Batting

The Central Connecticut baseball team dropped a pair of Northeast Conference games at home to Sacred Heart on Saturday, falling 6-5 in the first game and 3-0 in the second. The losses drop the Blue Devils to 14-14 overall and 7-7 in NEC play. SHU is now 13-15 and 10-4 in the league.

In game one Sacred Heart scored first with three runs in the top of the second inning, taking a 3-0 lead. Central got on the board and cut the lead to 3-1 on an RBI double from freshman catcher Connor Fitzsimons in the fifth inning.

The Blue Devils took a 5-3 lead with four runs on six hits in the sixth inning. Junior J.P. Sportman singled and went to second on a wild pitch. He scored on a single to left from senior Mike Washburn. With the bases loaded a sacrifice fly from junior Anthony Turgeon tied the game 3-3. With men on first and second Fitzsimons singled up the middle. The ball was stopped by the shortstop but junior Josh Ingham scored from second the play, giving Central the lead. The fourth run of the inning scored on an RBI single from junior Dylan DelaCruz, his third hit of the game.

The Pioneers tied it up with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh inning. It was 5-5 after a two-run, three-hit inning for the visitors. Sophomore starter Casey Brown went six innings allowing 10 hits while striking out one.

SHU took the lead with an unearned run in the eighth. With a man on first, an error on a failed pick off led to a sacrifice fly and the 6-5 lead.

The Pioneers took the early lead in game two, scoring a single run in the first inning off of junior starter Nick Neumann. A two-run single from John Murphy in the fifth inning pushed the SHU lead to 3-0.

The Blue Devils managed just four hits in the second game, and were shutout for just the second time this season. Neumann pitched the complete game, allowing just six hits and three runs, but fell to 2-3 on the season.

The Blue Devils and Pioneers will finish the weekend series on Sunday, with a seven-inning game followed by a nine-inning game.